Doctors threatened for blowing whistle on India s oxygen crisis
Calls to end cover-up of true Covid crisis as pandemic spins out of control
29 April 2021 • 10:38am
Police personals wear PPE kit as they arresting protesters in front of the state assembly house as they are arrived for protests
Authorities in India have been accused of covering up the spiralling healthcare crisis after doctors were threatened for blowing the whistle on oxygen shortages and criticism of the government was censored online.
The chief minister Yogi Adityanath of the state of Uttar Pradesh, a firebrand Hindu monk from the ruling BJP party, triggered panic after saying police could arrest individuals and hospitals reporting a shortage of medical oxygen or beds.
Doctors threatened for blowing whistle on oxygen crisis as Covid grips India
As the virus begins to tear through Uttar Pradesh, home state of Modi s predicted successor, officials race to limit the political fallout
29 April 2021 • 6:21pm
A surge of Covid-19 in a bastion of support for the Indian prime minister has been met with cover-ups and intimidation as his party workers scramble to limit political damage from the crisis during local elections, doctors allege.
Doctors claim test results are being fudged, medical staff gagged and death tolls deliberately under-counted as coronavirus begins to tear through Uttar Pradesh, a state ruled by the man who many predict will be prime minister Narendra Modi s successor.
On Wednesday, police in Mr Palâs adjoining Amethi district formally charged a 26-year-old resident for tweeting a request for an oxygen cylinder for his grandfather, who died a few hours later. Family members of Covid-19 victims outside a hospital mortuary in New Delhi as deaths continue to spiral. Photograph: Idrees Mohammed
In their formal complaint, police accused Shashank Yadav of spreading rumours regarding oxygen shortages with âintent to cause fear or alarmâ.
The police were following instructions issued earlier in the week by state BJP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who called upon authorities to arrest anyone suspected of rumour-mongering and propaganda and to seize their property.
Man booked, released with warning in Amethi for tweet creating false alarm for oxygen cylinder ANI | Updated: Apr 29, 2021 21:33 IST
By Kamna Hajela
Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 29 (ANI): A man was arrested by Amethi police and later released with a warning for making tweet about need for medical oxygen for his maternal grandfather who was not positive for COVID-19.
Amethi Superintendent of Police Dinesh Singh said that around 8 pm on April 26, a young man named Shashank Yadav made a tweet and appealed to actor Sonu Sood for oxygen for his maternal grandfather. Immediately afterwards we along with the CMO tried to contact him through phone. He did not answer the call and we located his position electronically and sent a team. When we reached his house, the team found him sleeping, Singh said.